This does not say how long the 95.6 percent efficacy lasts, but it is still encouraging. One interesting question in the comments is: does this prove that it was the waning of the efficacy of two vaccines was the reason for breakthrough and not delta getting around the vaccine. Food for thought, I’d say. I like thinking about things from different angles. Mrs OS does the same
Delta certainly contributes and Also efficacy wanes. A deadly combination.
I’d agree. But a curious way to look at it. Have you and Mrs OS had your third vaccines? I’ve lost track of who has on here.
I know Deb and Philip have had their third.
According to Dr. Wallensky of the CDC, once most 5-11 year olds get fully vaccinated, mask mandates in schools should continue.
Imo, removing masks would be great incentive for kids getting vaccinated.
I absolutely agree. Good for her. We know that breakthrough cases are as contagious for those vaccinated. Also, with flu and cold season, it will make a mess in schools where kids are on top of each others. Also, Symptoms from both are similar to covid, making it difficult to know who has what.
Good point. I forgot about cold & flu season. But I would hope masking can become “optional” later in the spring or next fall.
See below. I copied it since I know you and others can’t access the globe.
Cases, hospitalizations, and test positivity are gradually declining in the U.S. This is good news. But, the decrease has slowed somewhat.
A fading pandemic, as some in the mainstream media are calling it? Hardly. Cases yesterday: 86,759. Deaths yesterday 3,071. The U.S. is number 1 in absolute deaths worldwide, AND relative death rate (deaths per million inhabitants) among the world’s wealthy nations. Widening its lead everyday.
Of course, everything is relative. We’re numbed by the data at this point, and only off the charts figures will grab our attention.
By the way, the UK recorded its highest daily number of cases – >52k – in more than 6 months. The Netherlands reported its highest number of cases in more than 3 months. Germany’s case rate is also rising. In Western Europe the increases in cases – probably fueled by the DeltaPlus sub-lineage – are all tempered by excellent vaccination campaigns. In parts of Eastern Europe, on the other hand, there is no such tempering, as cases explode.
In Boston globe today
Ya think?
“ Re “Schools wary about dropping masks too soon” (Page A1, Oct. 16): Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, is correct that “relaxing mask rules now could lead to more COVID-19 cases as well as confusion and lost learning time.” We all know the tools to help prevent the spread of the Delta variant: vaccines, masks, adequate indoor ventilation or air filtration, and testing. The vaccines offer strong protection, but breakthrough infections and COVID-related deaths show that they are not a magic shield.
The Baker administration’s rule that masks are unnecessary in schools where 80 percent of students and staff are vaccinated was basically pulled out of thin air, while there is ample evidence for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s universal masking recommendation. Is the point of Massachusetts’ 80 percent rule to appease some of Governor Baker’s party’s base?”
The woman I know in SOuth Carolina who sent her daughter to live with her mom in VA since VA is better with covid in schools made a comment that her child and others were being used as political pawns. It clearly doesn’t just happen in the red states. Politics is alive and well in Massachusetts also
So true.
I do look forward to the day when masking indoors will be optional. Having said that, many small businesses (convenience stores, take-out restaurants etc.) have BOLD mask signs outside but employees not wearing them once inside. They don’t really care anymore whether you wear a mask or not.
Supermarkets and banks, however, are back to requiring masks!
Not many places here require masks. Even the pharmacy areas In supermarkets don’t require them.
WHO reported today that 115,500 healthcare workers worldwide have died from Covid-19.
Interesting decision in Canada’s courts on whether churches can have limits imposed on gathering sizes during a pandemic. The court’s decision is very different from most of the ones that courts have rendered decisions on in the U.S. Canada’s courts use a balancing act principle, if you will, among competing priorities/objectives. On the other hand, many/most U.S. courts assert that freedom of assembly/worship trumps other concerns. https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/manitoba-churches-lose-court-challenge-against-covid-19-restrictions-1.5632506
Here in Boston, churches and houses of worship are exempt from the indoor mask mandate.
Makes me crazy. It is a mask. A darned mask. How is it more upsetting than an increase in covid cases and deaths?
Watertown had an indoor mask mandate. It apparently just lifted it.
Thanks TK!
This does not say how long the 95.6 percent efficacy lasts, but it is still encouraging. One interesting question in the comments is: does this prove that it was the waning of the efficacy of two vaccines was the reason for breakthrough and not delta getting around the vaccine. Food for thought, I’d say. I like thinking about things from different angles. Mrs OS does the same
https://twitter.com/erictopol/status/1451170313492852740?s=21
I think it is a combination.
Delta certainly contributes and Also efficacy wanes. A deadly combination.
I’d agree. But a curious way to look at it. Have you and Mrs OS had your third vaccines? I’ve lost track of who has on here.
I know Deb and Philip have had their third.
According to Dr. Wallensky of the CDC, once most 5-11 year olds get fully vaccinated, mask mandates in schools should continue.
Imo, removing masks would be great incentive for kids getting vaccinated.
I absolutely agree. Good for her. We know that breakthrough cases are as contagious for those vaccinated. Also, with flu and cold season, it will make a mess in schools where kids are on top of each others. Also, Symptoms from both are similar to covid, making it difficult to know who has what.
Good point. I forgot about cold & flu season. But I would hope masking can become “optional” later in the spring or next fall.
See below. I copied it since I know you and others can’t access the globe.
Cases, hospitalizations, and test positivity are gradually declining in the U.S. This is good news. But, the decrease has slowed somewhat.
A fading pandemic, as some in the mainstream media are calling it? Hardly. Cases yesterday: 86,759. Deaths yesterday 3,071. The U.S. is number 1 in absolute deaths worldwide, AND relative death rate (deaths per million inhabitants) among the world’s wealthy nations. Widening its lead everyday.
Of course, everything is relative. We’re numbed by the data at this point, and only off the charts figures will grab our attention.
By the way, the UK recorded its highest daily number of cases – >52k – in more than 6 months. The Netherlands reported its highest number of cases in more than 3 months. Germany’s case rate is also rising. In Western Europe the increases in cases – probably fueled by the DeltaPlus sub-lineage – are all tempered by excellent vaccination campaigns. In parts of Eastern Europe, on the other hand, there is no such tempering, as cases explode.
In Boston globe today
Ya think?
“ Re “Schools wary about dropping masks too soon” (Page A1, Oct. 16): Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, is correct that “relaxing mask rules now could lead to more COVID-19 cases as well as confusion and lost learning time.” We all know the tools to help prevent the spread of the Delta variant: vaccines, masks, adequate indoor ventilation or air filtration, and testing. The vaccines offer strong protection, but breakthrough infections and COVID-related deaths show that they are not a magic shield.
The Baker administration’s rule that masks are unnecessary in schools where 80 percent of students and staff are vaccinated was basically pulled out of thin air, while there is ample evidence for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s universal masking recommendation. Is the point of Massachusetts’ 80 percent rule to appease some of Governor Baker’s party’s base?”
The woman I know in SOuth Carolina who sent her daughter to live with her mom in VA since VA is better with covid in schools made a comment that her child and others were being used as political pawns. It clearly doesn’t just happen in the red states. Politics is alive and well in Massachusetts also
So true.
I do look forward to the day when masking indoors will be optional. Having said that, many small businesses (convenience stores, take-out restaurants etc.) have BOLD mask signs outside but employees not wearing them once inside. They don’t really care anymore whether you wear a mask or not.
Supermarkets and banks, however, are back to requiring masks!
Not many places here require masks. Even the pharmacy areas In supermarkets don’t require them.
WHO reported today that 115,500 healthcare workers worldwide have died from Covid-19.
Interesting decision in Canada’s courts on whether churches can have limits imposed on gathering sizes during a pandemic. The court’s decision is very different from most of the ones that courts have rendered decisions on in the U.S. Canada’s courts use a balancing act principle, if you will, among competing priorities/objectives. On the other hand, many/most U.S. courts assert that freedom of assembly/worship trumps other concerns. https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/manitoba-churches-lose-court-challenge-against-covid-19-restrictions-1.5632506
Here in Boston, churches and houses of worship are exempt from the indoor mask mandate.
Makes me crazy. It is a mask. A darned mask. How is it more upsetting than an increase in covid cases and deaths?
Watertown had an indoor mask mandate. It apparently just lifted it.
We are a ship of fools.
https://www.watertownmanews.com/2021/10/21/board-of-health-ends-indoor-mask-mandate-in-watertown/
CDC approved third vaccine for moderna and second for JJ
C-19 for 10-22 is ready.